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BOCA RATON, Fla. (Nov. 12, 2013) – The FIU volleyball team dropped a tough five-set match to the Florida Atlantic Owls on Wednesday night, 3-2 (18-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 13-15). FIU will close out its 2013 home slate on Sunday, hosting North Texas at 1 p.m on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Junior Martyna Gluchowicz led the way for the Panthers, recording 16 kills and two service aces. Sophomore Lucia Castro tallied 15 kills, 12 digs and a service ace, while sophomore Gloria Levorin added 14 kills in the loss.

In set one, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead, courtesy of two kills by Castro and one kill by senior Kimberly Smith, and would carry on and eventually hold a 9-7 advantage. However, the Owls went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-9 advantage. From there the Owls would not look back and held a lead as big as eight, 23-18, and took the set by a count of 25-18.

FIU got off to a fast start in the second set, jumping out to a 13-3 lead. The set was knotted up at two, and the Panthers managed to go on an 11-1 run, which included three kills and a block from Smith, three kills by Castro and a service ace by Gluchowicz, FIU would hold 12-point leads on two separate occasions, which included scores of 21-9 and 23-11. A kill by Gluchowicz and an attacking error by FAU rounded out a 25-14 second set victory for the Panthers.

FAU jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set, but things would get much closer. The Panthers rallied to score five-straight points, which included two consecutive blocks by Smith to give FIU a 9-8 advantage. The Owls would create some separation making the score 15-11, but FIU rallied again to knot things up at 17. Both teams exchanged points twice until FIU took a two-point advantage on consecutive attacking errors by FAU. The Panthers led later on, 22-21, but the Owls scored four-straight points to take the third set.

Set four started with a 3-3 tie, but FIU took a 7-3 lead on kills from Gluchowicz, Castro, a block by junior Jessica Egan and an attacking error.  Then leading 13-7, the Panthers used three FAU errors to hold its largest lead of the set yet, 16-7. From there, the closest the Owls would get in the set was eight points. Levorin finished off the fourth set victory for FIU with two kills.

Levorin carried things over to the fifth set earning a kill to give FIU the first point. Two attacking errors by the Owls gave the Panthers a quick 3-0 advantage. Gluchowicz was responsible for four of the next five points, recording three kills and one block to give FIU an 8-1 advantage. Following an FAU kill, Smith, Egan and Castro returned the favor with three-straight kills to give FIU a 10-2 lead. The Owls answered with three-straight points forcing an FIU timeout. The Owls would continue its run out of the timeout, scoring an additional seven of the next 10 points to take a 12-11 lead. Smith tied it up with a block, but the Owls took the next two points and were serving for match point. A block by junior Silvia Carli kept the Panthers alive, but FIU earned a kill on the ensuing serve to take the set, 15-13, and the match.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest FIU volleyball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics). The official FIU Athletics hashtag for the 2013-14 athletics year is #PantherNation.

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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.